Can I claim the cost of a car I bought for delivery work?
Not if you claim mileage. The mileage rate includes depreciation, so the purchase price is not separately deductible.
Last checked 12/09/2026.
Not on the mileage method. The rate is built to include the vehicle losing value as you drive it, so claiming the purchase price on top would be claiming the same thing twice.
On the actual costs method you can claim capital allowances on the vehicle, spreading relief for the cost over time and restricted to the business proportion. That is one of the few things that genuinely tips the comparison toward actual costs.
It is worth working this out before you claim for the first time, because the choice sticks to that vehicle for as long as you use it in the business.
Finance is treated differently again. On the mileage method the interest is not separately claimable for a car; on actual costs the business proportion of the interest generally is. This is one of the places where an hour with an accountant pays for itself.
Related
Should I claim mileage or actual running costs?
For almost every delivery driver, the mileage method. It is worth more, needs no receipts, and the choice is locked in per vehicle once you make it.
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What you can claim, what you cannot, and the ones that depend on how you have claimed for your vehicle. Written for drivers using the mileage method, because most are.
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A capital allowance is tax relief on something you bought to keep and use, spread over years rather than deducted at once. You cannot claim capital allowances on a vehicle and use the mileage rate for it, so for most gig drivers this is a road not taken.
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Renting a PCO car: mileage rate or actual costs?
If you rent your private hire car by the week, you cannot claim both the rental and the mileage rate. Which one to claim depends on the rent, your miles and how much of the week the car works. Here is the arithmetic.
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Mileage method or actual costs: which is worth more?
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